Did Industrial Centralization Strategy in Shanghai’s Suburbs Lead to Economic Growth?

Industrial centralization is an important policy choice in the industrial economy era. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the overall performance and the influential effects of the industrial centralization strategy in the suburbs of Shanghai. The results show that (1) the strategy of industrial concentration in the suburbs of Shanghai effectively promoted economic growth; (2) on different spatial scales, there are visible differences in the impact of industrial concentration on the performance of industrial land; (3) industrial concentration has significantly improved industrial energy utilization efficiency; and (4) industrial concentration has narrowed the gap of economic development among the suburbs, but it has not resulted in a corresponding narrowing of the urban-rural gap. The main recommendations are to pay more attention to the high-end and centralization of urban industries in the central city, promote the interactive development of manufacturing and service industries as well as the integrated development of industry and city, moderately control the scale and speed of industrial suburbanization and residential suburbanization, promote the transformation of the traditional industrial land into “industry + R&D + business and office + exhibition” and further narrow the income gap between and within regions.

Ecological Efficiency of Urban Industrial Land in Metropolitan Areas: Evidence from China

Industrial land is an indispensable strategic resource in urban development that plays an indispensable role in ensuring the industrial space of urban construction and development. Measuring and analyzing the eco-efficiency of industrial land utilization (ECILU) can provide insights into how to maximize the input–output ratio of industrial land and ensure the sustainable development of land resources and economies. Based on the undesirable output slacks-based measure (SBM) model, choosing land, capital, and labor as input indicators, and the industrial added value and carbon emissions as desirable and undesirable output indicators, this study measured the ECILUs in 78 cities and 13 metropolitan areas in four Chinese major economic zones from 2007 to 2018, analyzed their spatial and temporal evolution characteristics and regional differences, and constructed a Tobit regression model to test the influence mechanism of each variable on the ECILUs in different regions. This has important theoretical and practical significance for the Chinese government in formulating relevant policies and realizing the green utilization of urban land in the future. Empirical results showed that the ECILUs in most cities were low and that the differences between regions were large. The ECILU in the Western Economic Zone was relatively high, followed by the Eastern, Central, and Northeastern Economic Zones. According to the ECILU value and urban synergy degree of each metropolitan area, this study divided the 13 metropolitan areas into four categories. The regression analysis results showed that the variables had different effects on the ECILUs of all cities and the four economic zones in China. It is suggested that all economic zones should reinforce the optimization of industrial structure, control industrial pollutant discharge, and solve the phenomenon of labor surplus. The Eastern Zone should maintain the growth of its economy while focusing on soil quality. The Central Zone should focus on the efficient use of infrastructure, and the Western, Northeastern, and Central Zones should balance the green coverage area and the industrial land area to ensure the efficient use of urban industrial land.

Analysis of Spatial–Temporal Characteristics of Industrial Land Supply Scale in Relation to Industrial Structure in China

Taking China’s industrial land transfer data as the data source, this study quantitatively analyzes the transfer structure and spatial distribution of China’s industrial land from 2010 to 2019. By constructing the information entropy and the equilibrium degree model of industrial land-use structure, this study evaluates the transfer characteristics of industrial land of different functional types in various provinces of China, analyzes the scale advantages of various types of transferred industrial land by using the land transfer scale advantage index, and summarizes the spatial distribution characteristics of different types of industrial land transfer in China through the spatial center of gravity analysis and cold/hot spot regional distribution mapping. The following results were obtained. (1) There are significant differences in the transfer scale of industrial land among provinces in China. The transfer scale of Eastern and Central China is large, whereas that of Western China is small. (2) From the perspective of land-use structure, the transfer scale of industrial land in the central and western regions is more balanced than that in the east. (3) From the gravity center distribution of the standard deviation ellipse, the land transfer direction of the energy industry, and the mining industry, and other types of industries is more significant than that of the culture and sports hygiene industries, modern manufacturing industry, and high-tech industry. (4) From the analysis of cold and hot spots, the mining industry, the energy industry, and other types of industries in the western region with rich mineral resources are the hot spots of industrial land transfer, and the southeast coast is the cold spot; the eastern coastal area is a hot area for land transfer of modern manufacturing, the high-tech industry, and the culture and sports hygiene industries. The results reveal the regional differences and spatial distribution characteristics of industrial transfer in China and provide a reference for authorities to formulate industrial planning and industrial land collection, storage, and transfer plans.

Reclamation and development of post-industrial sites for recreation as exemplified by projects carried out in Poland in the 1920s and 1950s

The aim of this article is to present spectacular examples of reclamation and development of post-industrial sites, carried out in Poland in the 1920s and 1950s, with emphasis on their recreational function. Examples include a park built between 1889 and 1920 by Wojciech Bednarski in the valley of the former quarry in Podgórze, now the right-bank district of Krakow, and “General Jerzy Ziętek Provincial Park of Culture and Recreation”, now called “the Silesia Park”, created in the 1950s on degraded post-industrial land located within the borders of three cities: Chorzów, Katowice and Siemianowice Śląskie. Both parks are examples of reclaiming brownfield sites for recreational use in order to create attractive leisure spaces. They have become a model and point of reference for other park planning projects in Poland. Their spatial and functional design is exceptionally timeless. The study is mainly based on a review of the literature of the subject.